Describe an art and craft activity you did at school.

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you're going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

Model Answer 1:

I have left my school for about nine years ago but still, the memories of art class are vivid in my mind. The teacher used to instruct us on storytelling by cartoons. Almost everyone in your class participated as it was an interesting activity for all of the students.

I was a student of The British School in Paris and attended the art and craft course when I was in my sixth grade. The school authority in included the course for the first time and they were a bit worried about the success of the course as the students had to take lots of pressures for their academic studies. If they are also burdened with another compulsory course in their sixth grade, that may hamper their studies. But they were wrong and every student in my class eagerly participated there. All of us made different things and also made monthly exhibitions. This was a great activity for all of the students of the class and it did not hamper their academic activities as well.

When the teacher, who was also an instructor, asked us to submit our desires to do something extraordinary, everyone proposed their own intentions. I also submitted my desire on a white piece of paper. I wanted to tell stories using cartoons. I am a good painter of cartoons and can draw anything I want. So, I tried to depict some popular stories using cartoons. But it was a bit difficult and expensive to me as well. I had to buy some notebooks and draw cartoons on the corners of the pages. The key of the cartoons was to draw them on the page corner so that anyone can have a look at them by turning over the page. Moreover, a rapid turning of the page shows the better result and if the cartoon is drawn at the corner, the page turning becomes easier. I drew cartoons over different small stories of great fabler, Aesop. My cartoons were shown in the class and I received positive criticisms for my initiative.

I did the work with my mom. She is also a painter and in fact, I learnt painting from her. She helped me to develop the idea and shown how to do the actual work. With her direct help, I made the project. Besides, I also consulted the issue with my teacher, Mr Fyodor Noam. When he checked my proposal, he asked me to explain the entire issue – how I will do it, how I will show the morals, how long it is going to take and some relevant matters. Finally, he approved my plan and also instructed me how to complete the entire task. He also invited my parents to discuss the issue and my mom went to meet him while my dad was unable to manage time. After lots of preparations, with the help of my mom and my instructor, I was able to complete my art project. If my mom and Mr Noam would not have helped me, I could not have made it a success. As a kid of sixth grade, I was incapable of realising their help but now I understand that they provided some special support to me at that moment.

I felt great with my cartoons. I had made three cartoons and one of them was a bit larger than the two others. But the smallest one got much more positive feedback than the remaining stories. I tried to describe the known stories in the form of cartoons. Thereby, I had to draw all the cartoons gradually and it was a bit hefty task for me. Moreover, I had to work at the evening hours, in my leisure time, and the time for submission was limited too. I took the challenge with the inspiration of my mom. She inspired me to draw the cartoons and also described how to draw them in small shape on the corner of the notebooks. Initially, I had to make some drafts for the cartoons and then started for the final task on the notebook. However, when the cartoons were exhibited before everyone, I really felt great inside me. In fact, I was awarded a prize for my idea and it was the very first recognition of my life for performing something creative.

Sample Answer 2:
Origami was an interesting event in my school when I was a child. Actually, making things with pieces of papers is known as origami. Basically, this was a Japanese art to formulate object using paper and without cutting them. I was interested in this event and participated enthusiastically. Thank you for your question. I will explain the matter in brief.

Origami is a wonderful paperwork. It requires patience and intelligence. The key aim of the paperwork is to create some finished piece of sculptures by folding a flat piece of paper. The practice of this art has been going on for a long time. Some of the students used to cut the paper pieces and then glued them but the instructor always discouraged the practice of cutting and glueing.

To participate in this art and craft activity, I had to learn the basics of origami. In fact, it was really interesting but a bit difficult in the beginning. But once I got used to with the paper folding, it was not that much hard as it appeared before. The techniques of paper folding are simple. Anyone can make almost all types of sculptures using the methods. The colours, shapes and sizes of paper for making sculptures are different. I had to spend additional one hour after the school classes to know about the methods. The origami class was set to be held at the school. To be honest, attending the class was interesting for me even after completing the other classes round the day.

Many of the students were attracted to the notice of origami class but finally few of them were able to hold their attention. Actually, every one of the class was tired and bored after the day-long classes. So, the majority of them turned reluctant to attend origami class after the school. Hence the number of students learning origami was limited. I was accompanied by a few students of my class and some other junior students. The instructor used to teach us origami in a very attractive way. He described the thing he was set to make and then asked us to follow him.

It was a beautiful activity for me. I was amazed at the techniques and gradually mastered the art. When I participated in the annual competition and got the first prize for artwork, I was extremely happy. In fact, I practised origami a lot at my home. My parents also inspired me on this extracurricular activity. Initially, I was unable to make the shapes. Later I used some cutting techniques but later gave them up to learn origami in real terms. My instructor advised me not to be impatient. Finally, I was successful and according to his advice, I kept practising and finally succeeded.